Stonehenge - Celebrating Summer Solstice

While I may have missed out on the sight of the sun rising spectacularly behind the ancient, iconographic monument (thanks to clouds which seem to follow me to every solstice celebration), I nevertheless enjoyed the two summer solstices I attended at Stonehenge. And despite the heavy rain which marked the 2008 event and the overcrowding and heavy police presence of 2009, I suspect the vast majority of tired souls who dragged their feet back to their cars/vans the morning after the revelries thoroughly enjoyed their experience of the stones also.

These two summer solstices were, without any doubt, the largest pagan gathering I have ever attended. And while some might argue that the majority of people attending these summer solstices at Stonehenge are not 'true' pagans, but are just revellers, I would take issue with this view.

I would argue, strongly, that just the desire to attend such an event evidences a pagan influence on people's minds that we should rejoice in rather than negate. Too many times have I heard complaints against the crowds at Stonehenge being there to just get drunk or get off their faces on drugs. For me, it is a real wonder to see so many people, from so many walks of life, gather en masse to take joy from the lasting accomplishment of our ancestors and to celebrate the rising of the sun.

Okay, certain people may like to perform their summer solstice rituals peacefully and with quiet reverence - but, despite the crowds, it is easy to find an empty spot not too far from the stones themselves. Personally, out of all the pagan festivals, I think summer soltice is the time to let loose, make merry and raise the sound levels.

Midsummer is the time to rejoice in the energy of the sun and of life itself and the next time I have the opportunity of attending another summer solstice at Stonehenge, I hope the atmosphere is as charged and vibrant as it was at my first two experiences of this amazing event!